Jansz

NOW SOLD OUT!

On Friday, September 22 at 7pm, please join me, Spec’s fine wine buyer Bear Dalton, in welcoming our always-entertaining-and-ever-informative friend Jane Ferrari, traveling winemaker of Yalumba, to the Wine School at l’Alliance Française for a tasting of Yalumba’s excellent Australian wines. The net proceeds of this event will benefit ECHOS (see below).

The ever-popular Ms. Ferrari will talk about where the wines come from and how they are made as well as the history and traditions of both Yalumba and the Barossa Valley. A native of Australia’s acclaimed Barossa Valley, Jane Ferrari is a trained winemaker – a graduate of Australia’s Roseworthy College (one of the top three winemaking schools in the world) – who gets her hands dirty both in the vineyards and the wineries in Barossa but also travels the world telling the Yalumba story. She is down-to-earth and very entertaining in a way that must be experienced. Jane first visited Houston in October of 2003 and utterly charmed a group of over 60 wine fans. She has been back almost every year since and has wowed us all each time. In addition to information about wine, you may hear about Australian and American culture (or lack thereof), Baseball, Elvis, and other tangentially related topics.

An Evening With Jane Ferrari will cost $30.00 (Cash or Check made out to the ECHOS only please). The class will meet at 7pm on Friday September 22, 2017. To reserve your spot for this event, please contact Susan Coburn at 713-854-7855 or coburnsusan2@gmail.com.

L’Alliance Française is the French cultural center in Houston. Located at 427 Lovett Blvd., l’Alliance is on the southeast corner of Lovett and Whitney (one block south of Westheimer and two blocks east of Montrose).

About ECHOSEpiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) is a non-profit organization connecting people in need with the health, social and educational resources that can improve their lives. ECHOS’ mission is to connect people in need with health, social and educational resources that can improve their lives.ECHOS provides on-site help to families who are unable to access affordable health care and who do not have medical insurance coverage in completing and submitting applications for healthcare and social services. ECHOS offers on-site health care services and screenings promoting healthier and more productive lives including Children’s Immunizations, Blood Pressure and Glucose Screenings, Vision Screenings, Well and sick child check ups, and Dental careECHOS also assistclients in meeting basic needs and self-sufficiency. Assistance is free and includes: Food from the Food Pantry, Food Fairs and Mini Health Fairs, English-as-a-second-language, Computer literacy, and Domestic violence support groups on campus.ECHOS is a non-profit 501(C)3 corporation.

Please join us for this third of our series of three classes focused on sparkling wines.

In Rosé Sparkling and Champagne, we will focus in on, taste, and discuss only Rosé Sparkling wines wines from around the world with an emphasis on Champagne. We’ll look at how they’re made (all methode champenoise), how they get their color (a variety of ways), their styles and nuances, where and from what grapes they’re made, as will pink fizz with food. We will taste through the diversity of dry Champagne as we look at a total of 15 wines.

The wines tasted will be served in Riedel Degustazione stemware and a selection of cheeses and bread will be served

L’Alliance Française is the French Cultural Center in Houston. Located at 427 Lovett Blvd., it is on the Southeast corner of Lovett and Whitney (one block south of Westheimer and two blocks east of Montrose).

If you buy a ticket and will not be able to attend, please cancel at least 24 hours before the class or you may be charged. Later cancellations will not be charged if we can fill the seat. This is often case as we regularly have waiting lists for these classes.

With over 35 years in the wine business and 30 plus years experience teaching about wine, Spec’s fine wine buyer Bear Dalton is one of the top wine authorities as well as the most experienced wine educator in Texas.

More Classes Coming Soon:
12/05/16 The State of Zinfandel (America’s great red)
12/12/16 Port
01/09/17 Pulling the Cork: What you need to know to more fully enjoy wine.01/18/17 2014 Bordeaux Tasting at the Crystal Ballroom in Houston
01/19/17 2014 Bordeaux Tasting at Trinity Groves in Dallas

So you need to buy a bottle (or 3 or 4) for Thanksgiving but you’re not really clear on the menu? You know there will be turkey but you don’t know how it will be cooked and you don’t know which sides will accompany it? You’re flying blind; I’m here to help.

All other things being equal, Pinot Noir is the best wine to serve with the traditional thanksgiving meal with all its regional and familial variations and permutations. Traditional New England? No Problem. Pit-roasted Turkey with jalapeño cornbread oyster stuffing? Ditto. Deep-fried Turkey with a Cajun spice injection? Out-a-sight. Turduken? Uh-Huh. Pinot handles ’em all even as it deals with all the oddball spicy, sweet (candied yams, cranberry sauce), salty, or gloppy (overcooked green beans served in casserole with canned mushroom soup and French’s fried onions) side dishes better han any other red. And, if served at 55-58°F (which is ideal cellar temperature), Pinot will actually help a slightly dried out turkey (of which there are far too many) taste better.

My picks (in three different price ranges) are all from France because these wines are lower in alcohol and a bit higher in acidity (freshness) making them better partners at the table.

Le VERSANT Pinot Noir, Vin de Pays d’Oc, 2012
100% Pinot Noir, grown on north and east facing slopes in the highlands near Puisserguier & Cazouls in Southwestern France. Fermented using rack-and-return (most unusual for Pinot) and aged 5 months in 90% Stainless Steel tanks and 10% in older oak barrels. Sensory Note: Deep-red color with well formed legs; dry, medium-bodied with freshly balanced acidity and medium phenolics. Supple dark red cherry and some berry fruit with accents of cola, a subtle earthiness and a bit of black pepper along with spice and a dark floral note. Bear Note: Lovely in the mouth This is the value-priced, food friendly, everyday Pinot Noir you’ve been looking for. Grows on you as you drink it. Shockingly good for the price. BS: 90. ($12 SRP)

LEONCE BOCQUET, Rully Rouge, 2009
100% Pinot Noir (from Rully in Burgundy’s Cote Chalonnaise) aged 14 months in a combination of 50% used oak barrels and 50% tank. Sensory Note: Red-violet in color with well formed legs; dry, medium-bodied with freshly balanced acidity and medium phenolics with a longer finish. Supple darker red cherry-berry fruit and even a hint of cocoa to complement the cola and dark floral notes. Bear Note: Complete. Drinking very well now. This is Chalonnaise Pinot Noir at a high level. BS: 91. ($24 SRP)

And maybe you’d like to bring some bubbles? Everybody may like the guy who brings donuts or breakfast tacos but everybody LOVES the guy who brings the bubbles. You can be that guy. Don’t know what to grab? Gotcha covered there too:

Castillo PERELADA Brut Reserva, Cava (Spain), NV
Tech: 11.5% Alcohol. A blend of Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada together with Chardonnay and Subirat Parent, Garnatxa Tinta, and Monastrell. Fermented using Methode Champenoise and aged at least 18 months on the yeasts in the bottle. Sensory: Pale-gold-straw in color; dry, medium-bodied with fresh acidity. Cheap Cava that both smells and tastes better than its price. Toasty, yeasty earth with citrus and tree fruit along with some earthy red fruit. Good grip in the mouth, quite long. So much better than it has to be at this price point. BS: 90+. ($10 SRP)

JANSZ Brut, Tasmania, NV
Tech Note: 12% Alc. A methode champenoise blend of 58% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, and 2% Pinot Meunier aged two years en tirage (on the yeasts) before disgorgement and finishing. Sensory Note: Pale green straw in color and fully sparkling with a nice bead even in the larger Riedel glasses. Plenty of fizz. The yeast-and-fruit nose was evident even as I was pouring the wine. In the glass, I found yeast and toast notes along with citrus and floral as well as a bit of red fruit. There is even a Champagne-like mineral component along with enough richness to make this work well with food. (I continued to sip it after we were seated with some of La Vista’s excellent mussels.) It is crisp and fresh with a fine balance and very long finish. Bear Note: Delicious. I think Carol has a slight preference for the Jansz Rosé but I find them both to be excellent. And I think this was better with the mussels than the Rosé would have been. BS: 92+. ($25 SRP)

GOSSET Brut Excellence, Champagne, NV
Tech: 12% Alcohol. A blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay, and 19% Pinot Meunier sourced primarily from Grand and Premier Cru vineyards. Gosset bases this blend on three vintages and then adds 20% reserve wines (wines aged in a sort of solera with many vintages blended together). The wine spends over 2.5 years en tirage (resting on the lees before disgorging). Sensory: Medium straw in color with a hint of green highlights. Dry, light-to-medium-bodied with crisp acidity and scant phenolics. Focused, classy, classic, and delicious. Tart lemon-citrus fruit with some some subtle red fruit notes along with lots of toast and a lot of minerals. Fine style. Gets richer and more satisfying as it warms and flattens (which I like very much). Delicious. BS: 92. ($41)

So this is almost Champagne Friday. Almost because it was Friday when I tasted the wine but it is now the wee hours of Saturday as I finish this post. And almost because the wine is sparkling wine from Tasmania rather than Champagne (but it might take a really good Master of Wine to figure that out in a blind tasting). Here’s the deal: I didn’t have a late Friday appointment in my office this week (the normal source for Champagne Friday), and I was quite late at the office. So to make it up to the lovely Miss Carol, we took a bottle of JANSZ Brut NV and a bottle of Girard Artistry 2008 (which I will most likely get to in another post) and went to La Vista (one of our favorite BYOBs) . Jansz is one of my very favorite non-Champagne bubblies. The winery is owned by the Hill Smith family who also own Yalamba. The winemaker, Natalie Fryar (that’s her in the picture), has been there since 2001 and before that she had five years of sparkling winemaking experience at Seppelt’s Great Western. As Tasmania – surrounded as it is by cold water – has one of the coolest climates of any new world wine region, it is ideal for growing sparkling wine grapes. I should probably mention that my friends David Maib of Negoçiants USA and Jane Ferrari who is the “traveling winemaker” for Yalumba are the ones who, some years back, introduced me to Jansz. Back to the present: While waiting for a table, we popped the Jansz. Not long after we said “Cheers.”, Miss Carol said “Yum!” That should do it but I will nevertheless offer my more detailed note below. Perhaps I should also mention that we drank the Jansz out of Riedel “Grand Cru Riesling” glasses which are rapidly becoming a favorite for richer sparkling wines.

JANSZ Brut, Tasmania, NV
Tech Note: 12% Alc. A methode champenoise blend of 58% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, and 2% Pinot Meunier aged two years en tirage (on the yeasts) before disgorgement and finishing. Sensory Note: Pale green straw in color and fully sparkling with a nice bead even in the larger Riedel glasses. Plenty of fizz. The yeast-and-fruit nose was evident even as I was pouring the wine. In the glass, I found yeast and toast notes along with citrus and floral as well as a bit of red fruit. There is even a Champagne-like mineral component along with enough richness to make this work well with food. (I continued to sip it after we were seated with some of La Vista’s excellent mussels.) It is crisp and fresh with a fine balance and very long finish. Bear Note: Delicious. I think Carol has a slight preference for the Jansz Rosé but I find them both to be excellent. And I think this was better with the mussels than the Rosé would have been. BS: 92+. ($20.00)

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Welcome to Bear On Wine

Come to Bear On Wine for Learning and Thinking . . . About Wine. I don't think you need to know much about wine to enjoy it . . . but I do think the more you know about wine, the more you tend to appreciate it. And, for me at least, learning about wine leads to thinking about wine. After over 35 years of working with wine and over 25 years of teaching and writing about wine, I'm still learning. I invite you to come along and learn more with me. - Bear